TMI Blog1969 (8) TMI 80X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... , 1958. After the death of Dulichand Ramchandra took possession of the joint family properties. The plaintiff therefore brought the present suit for ejectment of the defendant Ramchandra, the illegitimate son of Dulichand from the disputed properties. The suit was contested by the defendant on the ground that Dulichand had in his lifetime surrendered the lands to the Jagirdar who made re-settlement of the same with the defendant. As regards the house the contention of the defendant was that Dulichand had executed a will before his death making a bequest of his house entirely to him. The trial court decided all the issues in favour of the plaintiff and granted the plaintiffs a decree for possession with regard to the land and the house. The defendant took the matter in appeal to the District Judge who modified the decree. The District Judge took the view that the will executed by Dulichand was valid so far as half of his share in the house was concerned and, therefore, defendant was entitled to claim half the share of the house in dispute. The defendant preferred a second appeal before the Madhya Pradesh High Court which reversed the decree of the lower courts and held that the plai ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Arunachalam Chettiar, 1957 A.C. 540, it is only by analyzing the nature of the rights of the members of the undivided family, both those in being and those yet to be born, that it can be determined whether the family property can properly be described as 'joint property' of the undivided family. In that case one Arunachalam Chettiar and his son constituted a joint family governed by the Mitakshara school of Hindu law. The father and son were domiciled in India and had trading and other interests in India, Ceylon and Far Eastern countries. The undivided son died in 1934 and Arunachalam became the sole surviving coparcener in the Hindu undivided family to which a number of female members belonged. Arunachalam died in 1938, shortly after the Estate Ordinance no. 1 of 1938 came into operation in Ceylon. By Section 73 of the Ordinance it was provided that property passing on the death of a member of the Hindu undivided family was exempt from payment of estate duty. On a claim to estate duty in respect of Arunachalam's estate in Ceylon, the Judicial Committee held that Arunachalam was at his death a member of the Hindu undivided family, the same undivided family of which hi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ourt has taken the view that Suresh Chandra became the son of plaintiff no. 1 with effect from 1958 and plaintiff no. 2 would not become the adopted son of Bhagirath in view of the provisions of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956 (Act 78 of 1956). It was argued on behalf of the appellant that the High Court was in error in holding that the necessary consequence of a widow adopting a son under the provisions of Act 78 of 1956 was that the adoptee would be the adopted son of the widow and not of her deceased husband. In our view the argument put forward on behalf of the appellant is well-founded and must be accepted as correct. Section 5(1) of Act 78 of 1956 states : (1) No adoption shall be made after the commencement of this Act by or to a Hindu except in accordance with the provisions contained in this chapter.... Section 6 deals with the requisites of a valid adoption and provides : No adoption shall be valid unless- (i) the person adopting has the capacity, and also the right, to take in adoption. (ii) the person giving in adoption has the capacity to do so; (iii) the person adopted is capable of being taken in adoption; and (iv) the adoption is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) of Section 11 that the effect of adoption under the Act is that it brings about severance of all ties of the child given in adoption in the family of his or her birth. The child altogether ceases to have any ties with the family of his birth. Correspondingly, these very ties are automatically replaced by those created by the adoption in the adoptive family. The legal effect of giving the child in adoption must therefore be to transfer the child from the family of its birth to the family of its adoption. The result is, as mentioned in Section 14(1) namely where a wife is living, adoption by the husband results in the adoption of the child by both these spouses; the child is not only the child of the adoptive father but also of the adoptive mother. In case of there being two wives, the child becomes the adoptive child of the senior-most wife in marriage, the junior wife becoming the step-mother of the adopted child. Even when a widower or a bachelor adopts a child, and he gets married subsequent to the adoption, his wife becomes the step-mother of the adopted child. When a widow or an unmarried woman adopts a child, any husband she marries subsequent to adoption becomes the step-fa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r of the plaintiff no. 2 declaring his title to the agricultural lands in the village Palasia and half share of the house situated in the village. It is contended on behalf of the respondent that the rights of the Inamdar's tenants were not heritable under the Madhya Bharat Land Revenue and Tenancy Act, 1950 (Act no. 66 of 1950) and therefore the plaintiffs could not claim to become the Inamdar's tenants after the death of Dulichand in the absence of a contract between the Inamdar and themselves. Reference was made to Sections 63 to 88 dealing with the rights of pakka tenants and it was argued that there was no provision in the Act dealing with the rights of an ordinary tenant. Section 87 states: An ordinary tenant is entitled to hold the land let to him in accordance with such terms as may be agreed upon with the person from whom he holds, provided that they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. Section 89 deals with the rights of sub-tenants and reads: (1) A sub-tenant is entitled to hold the land let to him in accordance with such terms as may be agreed upon with the person from whom he holds, subject to his compliance with the general con ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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